Thanks for the compliments! Definitely a fun boat, and it works great for fishing and flounder gigging, too!
When I initially built the boat, I knew it needed a stomp grate, but I got by for about a year or so without one. Then, I got something fouled in my intake grate on the river one day, and had to idle about 5 miles back to the landing. So, I knew it was time to make the stomp grate.
Having owned a Sea Doo Speedster, I was familiar with their design, and wanted to incorporate something like this on my boat.
So, I ordered a few of the parts from Sea Doo. Specifically, the tapered rubber bushing, and the 2 plastic half-collars that clamped the cable in place in the thru-hull fitting. I also ordered the plastic nut for this assembly, as well as the cable end fitting to attach to the weedless grate.
However, I was not able to find that wedge-shaped piece of aluminum with the internal threads, that bolts to the top of the intake scoop, for the cable to fit into. I looked for a while, and then decided to just make my own.
Also, I found that the plastic nut from Sea Doo was not an NPT thread, it was some screwy thread, I have no idea what pitch it was, or if it may have been a metric pipe thread.
So, I tossed that part aside, and instead used a plastic 3/4" NPT plug, drilled a hole in the center for the cable to fit into, and then shaved a little bit of material from the inside, for the plastic half collars to fit in.
Also, I had to make the threaded thru-hull fitting, with 3/4" NPT threads for the plug.
So, I proceeded with some large diameter solid round aluminum, and I contoured the bottom of it so that it would fit the top of the intake scoop, and be perpendicular, not skewed to the side.
I center drilled it for the diameter of the cable, then, I machined a taper in it, to fit the taper of the rubber plug, and finally, I cut 3/4" NPT threads.
Next, I had to have a way to secure it to the intake scoop. So, on the bottom side of this block of aluminum, I drilled and tapped for 1/4" threads.
Because of the contour shape on the bottom of the block of aluminum, it had to be positioned a certain way to remain perpendicular, but how to do this AND get the correct location for those blind holes?
Simple.....I took a couple of 1/4" stainless screws, cut the ends off, then ground them to a sharp point. I threaded the blunt end into the threaded holes of the aluminum block (basically, I made a set of transfer punches) I positioned the block of aluminum where it needed to go, then gave it a light tap with a hammer, and I had my locations for my mounting holes.
Using RTV ultra black, and some taper-head phillips stainless 1/4" screws from the underside of the intake scoop, the block of aluminum was secured in place. Then the cable assembly was installed with the locking half collars, the rubber bushing, and the 3/4" plug cap, with RTV applied to the tapered end of the rubber plug, as the sea doo manual calls for.
Once it was done, this is what it looked like:
A few shots of the thru hull fitting, with cable installed, you can see RTV used to seal under the fitting, as well as the 3/4" NPT plug.
A shot from the underside, showing the mounting screws:
Also note the cable end.
Next, I needed to make the intake grate pivot. I cut all the tines loose from the factory aluminum grate. I kept the front end of the assembly. Next, I took some 3/4" round stock, and cut 3 pieces about 1/4" thick from this. Then I welded these 3 pieces onto the front flange of the intake grate, one on each side, and one in the center. This would create a pivot point.
Then, I took some 1/4" thick by 3/4" wide stainless flat bar, used the belt grinder to remove the corners and do some shaping and rounding of edges, and made 4 new tines, and drilled a hole at the back end of one of them for my cable end.
Lastly, I needed a control lever at the console for operating the grate. Using the same concept as the reverse gate lever, I came up with this:
As you can see, this lever is bronze, as are the other control levers. To operate, cut off the engine, then swing the lever down. This pushes the back end of the intake grate down by about 4", allowing debris to clear itself. Return the lever to its upright position, and it retracts the grate.
Once all of this was done, I performed a watertight integrity check (fill boat with water until it's above the area you want to check for leaks) and found it to be OK, no leaks.
Works like a charm, and it's simple to operate!